Windows 8 Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook Review #WindowsChampions
We are completely a Windows household so I, of course, was beyond thrilled when I had the chance to receive a Windows 8 Acer Aspire S7 notebook to review! I have used and loved Microsoft software and products my entire life. We live on our Windows phones and our Windows 8 desktop and notebook computers! Last month, I shared a review on Windows 8 for my desktop and this week I’m excited to share how Windows 8 is even more fabulous using an ultrabook with touch screen capabilities.
What is an Ultrabook?
First, it’s important to understand what an “ultrabook” is. Since the term is somewhat new to the computer world, many may not know how it differs from a notebook computer. An ultrabook is a laptop computer that has to meet certain requirements to receive the ultrabook status. These including being: extremely slim (less than 1″ thick), lightweight, small and portable (most have 13.3″ screen or smaller), have at least a five hour battery life, and be fast and powerful. Most ultrabooks will also feature a touch screen. There are a few potential drawbacks to consider, though. Due to their extremely slim profile, some built-in features may be missing that you’ll need to consider external USB resources for when they are needed such as a CD/DVD player or a wealth of hard drive space.
Windows 8 Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook Review
Taking Windows 8 for a spin on a traditional desktop computer is a little bit tricky at first as you try to re-learn how to navigate and move around the operating system. However, where those hurdles comes initially with a desktop, they are completely eliminated with a touch screen ultrabook! Playing around on the Acer Aspire S7 for the first time makes you feel like you are using some of your other devices like your smartphone or tablet. You’re able to drag around the screen, your applications, and interact with everything right there on the screen with the touch of a finger. Windows 8 introduces really neat features like a picture login that lets you setup specific touch strokes on a picture as your login. We absolutely love how slim and lightweight the Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook is! When I was looking at computers a few months back to use for my work, weight and size were big factors I was considering. While I thought the models I was looking at then were slim and lightweight, the Acer Aspire S7 completely blows them out of the water. It is SOOO light which makes it extremely portable and perfect for taking along to blog conferences, school, meetings, while traveling, etc.
I have loved the flexibility to play games, multi-task, customize my start screen, and make this computer completely my own. It is just so intuitive to be able to swipe to move around your applications or to bring up menus that once I got used to the specific motions needed, I find it so fast and easy to use! I love most of the apps better than their traditional web versions as they are clean and easy to click and navigate through. The games are my favorite, though. I’ve been enjoying playing Spades and Sudoku a lot! The battery life lasts what feels like forever and is rated to last up to 12 hours of use. I’ve never had it die on from a single day’s use even with using the computer a ton! I have been absolutely thrilled with the Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook and feel it is a fabulous choice if you’re looking at purchasing a new laptop. The only thing I wish it had was a swivel screen to allow me to turn the laptop into a tablet for those occasional times I have wished I could. Microsoft does offer laptops that can do just that, though, if that is a feature you would love and use as well like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga.
Purchase Windows 8 or Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook
You can find Windows 8 along with all compatible Windows 8 tablets and computers including the Acer Aspire S7-391 like I reviewed available through the Microsoft store. The Acer Aspire S7-391 ultrabook retails for $1,399.
Disclosure: I am a Windows Champions blogger and I received a loan of a laptop and may receive other awards from Microsoft to post my opinions about Microsoft products. I also previously received a copy of Windows 8 as mentioned in this post as compensation for a previous review
I love the fact that some of the newest Laptops are touchscreen! I feel that Windows 8 is awesome, but it would be difficult to relearn how to navigate after using Windows 7. I have no experiences in Ultrabooks, but was able to take a look at them while at Best Buy the other day. So tiny, I would feel like I could break it!
I have to say I currently use an older Acer Aspire and it has been by favorite laptop of all time. This one looks great although I am still a little leery about W8! I love that it’s light weight. That is a big thing for me when choosing a new laptop!
so cool. I want one!!
This looks really nice and has many great features..it would be great for my daughter in college
Looks like the Acer has a lot of cool features and benefits. I’ll have to wait for the price to come down though. 🙂
I would LOVE to have an ultrabook and the Windows 8 Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook looks like a great one! I like the touch screen feature and the fact that it is so lightweight.
I would definitely look into purchasing this laptop in the future.
I love how thin it is and it would be so much easier for me to carry around than the chunky laptop that we currently own.
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I have Windows 8 on my new laptop and I love it!! 🙂
I probably would not purchase one of those for a couple of reasons. I need to have a CD/DVD drive, USB ports, and I like a bigger screen. Plus, the price is kind of expensive.
I want one of these so badly,,but will have to wait a while,but it was a great review,just makes me want it more,lol
This looks so great – we have a clunky old desktop, so I am “chained” to the living room. I’d love to be mobile!
The Aspire is great for the childrens homework, playing games via web and browsing facebook and such. I have a Aspire and the drawbacks are no dvd and fixing Virus and not very much memory and installing software for printers and such you can not do unless it has its own download and of course my printer didnt, lol.
I didn’t realize anyone actually used those driver installation disks and such. 😉 We solve the low memory by having an external hard drive all of our computers link to via our home network.
Omg, that looks so cool! It’s putting my laptop to shame. Can’t wait to try Windows 8, and that ultrabook is just pretty.
how lucky are you. I would love to have a new computer (mobile) so I didn’t have to sit at my desk.
This looks absolutely cool! I think this would be awesome for my daughter in college–she would be able to carry it easily. I don’t think most of us would miss the disc drive for just ordinary use.
Yes, perfect for college students! I agree, so much is digital now a days. Seems like we won’t be buying DVD/Blu-ray’s for too much longer anyways.
This looks and sounds cool! I always wondered what the difference was btwn a notebook and ultrabook! Now I know! I think this would be much better for me than a regular laptop.
wow, I love the fact that it is so slim-perfect for traveling with, and has the touch screen. While I love my desk top, my lap top is somewhat bulky and I hate bringing it with me when I travel because it’s heavy too!
I’ve never used one before but I think this would be great.
I really love this computer!
I owuld love to own this I have a dell and it is always messing up on me.
Wow, I always thought Acer wasn’t a great brand since there prices are so cheap. But this really looks like an awesome laptop! I love that it’s also touchscreen!
The features look modern and useful. Thanks for the imformation.
Wow what a beautiful computer love the keyboard
I love the features of this laptop, especially the size and weight. We have an older Acer that has been great. I would love a newer, faster laptop too.
Looks nice! Thank you for the review!
I would love to own a Windows 8 Acer Aspire S7 notebook! This notebook looks like it is really fast and slim and sleek. I like the keyboard design and the color of the laptop. I sure could use a good laptop like this!
I like that it is slim and lightweight. I can’t stand toting around a bulky laptop! The touchscreen seems like a nice option too.
So cool! I have a Samsung currently
It is really nice – I need a new one and this sounds great. Lightweight, fast, long battery life.
Love that it is lightweight and thin. My current laptop is heavy and thick.
I really like how lightweight it is. I remember when laptops were so large and heavy.
I love that it is 1″ thick , lightweight and has a five hour battery life! Excellent review and thank-you for sharing
I like the Acer Aspire Ultrabook. It looks so sleek an portable to use. I like the color and keyboard design. And for the amount, you get a lot of excellent features. I do like the touchscreen abiltiy!
I’m so in need on a new laptop and this one looks awesome. I am always nervous about trying a new windows though.
I have yet to make the move to win8…. and will likely have to be pulled kicking and screaming from win7 much the same when xp went. I havent played much with win8 except at demos at stores and I am still not super partial to it. I do like the ultrabooks- the looks and portability are very attractive.
It is a great machine, but I do worry about dirty hands with the touch screen technology.
I would have a learning curve since I don’t use any kind of touch screen device. (my phone has buttons!)
It’s a beautiful machine, but I don’t understand why Windows 8 is moving towards touching my clean screen.
My son takes the calculator and tries to slide the screen, how bad is that, he just turned two in Jan. I loved the review, it felt like I was actually trying it out myself. the lightweight and touchscreen is a must for me if I were to purchase a laptop and this just might be the one, thanks for the review!
My little one always tries to touch our computer’s screen and is so sad that nothing happens. I love how interactive it is and doesn’t take up a huge amount of space too.
HAHAHA! Just think of how far tech has come since we were toddlers, wow! My kids do that too on our desktop because they figure it should work just like our phone they sometimes get to play with.
Touchscreen technology is so brilliant! It’s so very intuitive, and fun! My ONLY problem with it is smudging. But it’s so cool that I’ll just deal with that! 🙂
Lol, so true! I notice it a LOT more on my phone and tablet then on the laptop, though. It’s really fun watching technology advance!
love the laptop, but i would prefer to have a new pc, have a laptop, do like this one though, although i have heard great reviews abt acer cust service. i like the touchscreen and want i7 3rd gen. w/ windows 8
Windows 8 is really cool and different, if you have a touchscreen. Otherwise, may be more of a challenge to learn. 😉 Fast processors totally rock, though they can be pricey. It was hard trying to decide when I purchased my own laptop late last year price over processor and where to compromise.
This laptop sounds perfect! I think the swivel feature would be nice, but I would worry about the swivel mechanism breaking and then ruining my awesome laptop! And the battery life sounds great. I have a 3 year old Dell and my battery icon is now telling me to consider replacing it!
That’s true.. the fewer moving parts, generally the better!